460
FXUS65 KBYZ 031617
AFDBYZ

Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Billings MT
917 AM MST Wed Dec 3 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Light snow diminishes this morning over the mountains and
  foothills of southern Montana and northern Wyoming.

- Winds increase along the foothills west of Billings this evening
  into Thursday morning. Strongest around Livingston to Nye. 30
  percent chance for blowing snow foothills areas.

- Unsettled conditions continue Thursday into early next week.
  Next best chance of precipitation is Friday into Saturday
  (moderate chance). Periods of gusty to strong winds.

&&


.UPDATE...

Updated forecast for the latest model and radar snowfall trends.
Cold front has stalled out this morning, generally along a
Harlowton to Columbus to Sheridan WY line. To the east of this
front low clouds, very light snow, and areas of fog are being
reported with temperatures dropping into the single digits by the
time you get to Baker. Ahead of the front light snow is tapering
off in the Beartooth/Crazy mountains and foothills where upper
level energy and Pacific moisture combined for some more elevated
precipitation generation. As we go through the day the shallow
cold air will erode and the front will back to the east over time.
Models won`t handle the light snow within the shallow cold pool
very well and it won`t amount to more than flurries for most
locations. Thus the forecast will trend mainly dry by mid day,
with a good deal of afternoon sunshine.

Winds turn westerly tonight and are expected to get gusty over the
western foothills. Could be some areas of blowing snow where snow
fell this morning. Will keep an eye on this heading into tonight,
but current guidance keeps wind gusts below highlite criteria, and
temperatures should be warm enough this afternoon to limit the
impacts of blowing snow to elevations above most populated areas.
Chambers

Today through Tuesday...

Periods of light to moderate snow will continue over the north
facing slopes of the mountains and foothills in southern Montana
and northern Wyoming early this morning. Additionally, there
remains a slight chance of light snow over the plains early this
morning as a cold front drops through the region. Behind this cold
front, temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits
to low 20s. Therefore, any roads that are wet or slushy will
likely freeze and become slick. This may impact the morning
commute. By mid to late morning, downslope winds look to
redevelop, ending any remaining snow across the area. With the
clearing skies, look for temperatures to warm into the upper 20s
to mid 30s across much of the area. Over far eastern Montana,
temperatures will remain colder in the teens to low 20s.

This evening into Thursday morning, a strengthening surface
pressure gradient combined with increasing mid level winds will
allow surface winds to increase over the foothills west of
Billings. With this, the strongest winds are expected over the
common gap areas from Livingston to Nye. At this time, the chance
of seeing a 50 mph wind gust is 70 percent, but the chance of
seeing a 60 mph wind gust remains lower around 40 percent given
the more westerly component of the mid-level winds. Around Big
Timber to Harlowton, winds will be less, but gusts around 30 to 45
mph are still forecast. Looking a bit farther east, gusty winds
are also expected to develop out of the Bighorn Basin around the
Clarks Fork Yellowstone River valley and out of the Bighorn
Canyon. With the recent snow in these areas, wind gusts in the 20s
and 30s (mph), with locally higher gusts possible around Fort
Smith, may result in patchy blowing snow. This will depend mostly
on how warm it gets today in these areas, but current forecasts
are right around freezing. This may impact Highway 212 and 310
south of Rockvale.

Persistent northwesterly flow through the rest of this week into
next week keeps the weather forecast active with occasional
chances of precipitation and wind. Temperatures during this time
look to oscillate back and forth from above, to near, to below
normal as well with highs in 20s to 40s. As far as the
precipitation goes, our next best chance of more widespread
precipitation is Thursday into Saturday over the mountains (high
chance of precipitation) and Friday into Saturday over the lower
elevations (moderate chance of precipitation). With this,
uncertainty remains, but the pattern does favor periods of
moderate to high snow in the southwest mountains (Absaroka-
Beartooth and Crazy Mountains), mainly on southwest facing slopes.
Over the lower elevations, precipitation looks to come as a
rain/snow mix, but the uncertainty mostly remains in potential
rain/snow amounts. For wind, the periods of gap winds are expected
to continue over the foothills west of Billings through the
weekend. By early next week, ensembles suggest a pattern for
increasing strong winds may develop, however, uncertainty remains.
Will have to see how the upper level pattern trends over the
coming days. Arends

.AVIATION...

While snow is decreasing in coverage for much of southeastern MT,
a band of snow continues across the Beartooth foothills to the
Northern Bighorns. This is producing MVFR-IFR conditions for sites
such as KRED and KSHR, expect this to continue into the early
morning hours. Low ceilings will impact all terminals through much
of this morning as well, with MVFR conditions possible. Winds
will increase later tonight across the foothills west of Billings,
impacting KLVM-K6S0-K3HT for Thursday. Matos

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Tdy Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun     Mon     Tue
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 030 019/037 026/037 024/036 024/040 031/044 032/049
    2/S 01/E    32/S    54/O    21/B    10/B    12/R
LVM 036 021/037 026/040 028/040 025/042 031/044 033/051
    2/S 03/S    43/S    85/O    21/N    21/N    13/O
HDN 028 012/037 025/038 021/035 019/039 025/044 026/048
    3/S 02/O    53/S    76/O    41/B    11/B    13/R
MLS 019 010/035 025/033 017/027 014/034 023/040 026/045
    2/S 01/E    41/E    52/S    21/B    10/B    12/R
4BQ 023 014/035 026/034 021/033 020/037 026/041 028/047
    3/S 00/B    31/B    32/S    21/B    00/B    12/R
BHK 016 003/034 021/032 012/026 010/033 018/039 021/042
    2/S 00/Q    30/E    42/S    21/B    10/B    12/O
SHR 029 012/039 021/038 019/038 019/042 023/045 023/050
    5/S 01/B    52/S    54/O    41/B    11/B    12/R

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.

&&

$$
weather.gov/billings